News & Commentary

Advocates Are Sparking a Revolution in Louisiana's “Cancer Alley”

November 10, 2022 DispatchSt. James Parish, LouisianaNicole Greenfield

Residents of St. James Parish are fighting to boot harmful petrochemical plants from this majority-Black community—and hoping to usher in more sustainable industries like solar.

Will Hawai‘i Show the Rest of the Nation the Way to Clean Up the Power Sector?

September 16, 2021 DispatchHawaiiD. W. Gibson

To help achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2045, the state’s electric utilities now need to take up climate action if they want to turn a profit.

Blackfeet Nation Is Taking Back the Food System

June 21, 2021 DispatchMontanaNicole Greenfield

A tribal-led plan to build a meat-processing facility on the Blackfeet Nation reservation in Montana will help invigorate the local economy, safeguard cultural traditions, and protect community health and the environment.

A Native Hawaiian Digs into Her Roots to Grow Food, Knowledge, and Hope

May 18, 2021 DispatchHawaiiJeff Turrentine

Inspired by an ancient system of natural resource management, Kukui Maunakea-Forth works with her community to turn Oʻahu youth into farmers—and scholars.

Honolulu Charts a Path Away from Fossil Fuels

March 2, 2021 DispatchHawaii, HonoluluCourtney Lindwall

As part of the American Cities Climate Challenge, a coalition of climate advocates just helped pass a series of bills that will curb emissions and rein in Honolulu’s sky-high cost of living at once.

Connector of the Gulf South, 15 Years and Counting

August 24, 2020 DispatchNew Orleans, LouisianaKaren L. Smith-Janssen

Colette Pichon Battle is getting the conversation going—and the preparations moving—for Black and Indigenous communities of Louisiana who are still healing from Hurricane Katrina, even as they stand on the frontlines of climate change.

The Humble Beaver: Troublemaker or Climate Superhero?

May 27, 2020 DispatchMontana, WestAlisa Opar

Beavers create rich habitats and act as buffers against the effects of drought and wildfire—spurring efforts to pinpoint new ways to help us coexist with North America’s largest rodent.

As Sea Level Rise Threatens Their Ancestral Village, a Louisiana Tribe Fights to Stay Put

April 13, 2020 DispatchLouisianaBarry Yeoman

They survived the BP oil disaster, Hurricane Katrina, and decades of industry spoiling their wetlands. Whatever their future holds, the people of Grand Bayou want to decide it for themselves.

The Mother Who Became a Voice for the Gulf

April 6, 2020 DispatchLouisianaNicole Greenfield

After the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Kindra Arnesen went to the mat to help heal and protect her southeastern Louisiana community and the fishery it relies on. Ten years later, she’s still fighting.

Missoula, Montana, Proves That Tackling Car Culture Isn’t Just for Big-City Slickers

November 5, 2019 DispatchMontanaAlisa Opar

The streets are hardly choked with traffic, but this Northern Rockies locale sees plenty of other good reasons to get more of its commuters out from behind the wheel.

The People of the Isle de Jean Charles Are Louisiana’s First Climate Refugees—but They Won’t Be the Last

September 23, 2019 DispatchLouisianaRobynne Boyd

Whether and how to uproot communities are difficult and painful questions, and we need to get better at answering them.

Hawaii Stands Up for Its Sharks With Fishing Ban

April 24, 2019 DispatchHawaiiStarre Vartan

The Aloha State is on track to become the first in the nation to ban shark fishing outright, creating a critical safe harbor for these threatened animals.

Montana’s Wildlife Needs Safer Crosswalks

March 13, 2019 DispatchMontanaLora Shinn

A push for more animal bridges and overpasses is aimed at reducing the number of collisions between vehicles and wildlife.

These Montanans Don’t Want an Industrial Slaughterhouse in Their Backyard

February 1, 2019 DispatchMontanaLora Shinn

In the small city of Great Falls, residents push back against a Big Ag plant that would consume 3.5 million gallons of water—and produce 102,995 pounds of waste—per day.

Montanans Find Their Scenery More Precious Than Copper or Gold

August 15, 2018 DispatchMontanaLora Shinn

Environmentalists, the recreation industry, and lovers of the state’s great outdoors push back against new mine developments threatening their waters.

With Its New Sunscreen Law, Hawaii Aims to Set a Gold Standard for the World to Follow

July 5, 2018 DispatchHawaiiD. W. Gibson

On the heels of the longest coral bleaching event on record, Hawaii hopes that banning a chemical culprit in sunscreen will help save its reefs.

The Gulf of Mexico Is Sending Out an S.O.S.—a Message in a Plastic Bottle

June 4, 2018 DispatchKansas, Louisiana, MississippiRobynne Boyd

Thanks to the Mississippi River’s trash stream, the Gulf has some of the highest concentrations of plastic in the world.

Resolving a Real-Life Rivalry Between Bears and Honeybees

October 4, 2017 DispatchMontanaCorey Binns

When hungry bears and Montana’s honey industry collide, apiarists and conservationists come together to avoid a sticky situation.

Killing Coyotes with Cyanide? There Must Be a Better Way.

September 25, 2017 DispatchMontana, WestAlisa Opar

Nonlethal methods to protect livestock from predators are gaining momentum as pressure mounts to ban poison-spray traps.

Spring Break

February 4, 2016 DispatchMontanaAlisa Opar

Bison go from seasonal outlaws to year-round residents in a large swath of Montana.